Mike
Chen writes science fiction with feelings. His debut novel
Here and Now and Then was part of
Bookbub’s Best Science Fiction of 2019 and the Goodreads Choice
Awards shortlist. His upcoming book A
Beginning at the End (January 14,
2020 from Mira/HarperCollins) has received multiple starred reviews
from Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, and more. Mike also
covers geek culture for outlets such as Tor.com, StarTrek.com, and
more, and posts many photos of his dog on social media. Follow him on
Twitter/Instagram @mikechenwriter.
Tell me about
your writing process: schedule, environment, inspirations, magic
tricks, etc.
Well, I have a day
job and a feisty 5-year-old daughter, so my writing process is
basically whenever I can around that. I write a lot on my phone (and
I read a lot of ebooks on my phone) because Google Docs allows for
anywhere/anytime access. This works in whatever block of time is
available, so if I’m waiting at a doctor’s appointment, I can
edit a short section, and if I’m in bed, I can draft for 30 minutes
or so. At some point, I imagine I’ll have a little more structure
to my schedule, but I think it’ll have to wait until my daughter is
a little older and doesn’t want my company anymore! As for actual
process, I just need quiet (only video game soundtracks or
instrumentals if I have music), though someday I’d love to have a
dedicated home office just for writing.
Walk me through
your publishing process from “final” draft to final product,
including who does what when, and marketing that you do as the
author.
It’s pretty
standard. There’s the editorial process with my editor; then the
marketing/publicity side gets involved. I do a lot of freelance
writing for geek and pop culture media (e.g. Tor.com, StarTrek.com,
TheMarySue.com) so I’m always game if I need to write an essay or
something specifically for publicity purposes, but it’s generally
out of my control; I just nod and smile when asked to write something
or show up to an event.
A few steps back
from that, I find that I’m not one of those writers who can sell
with just a sample chapter and an outline. Writing a full novel from
that is far too daunting, but you don’t want to sink too much time
and energy into a manuscript that won’t go anywhere. For my second
contract, I’ve found a good happy medium to be writing a fairly
polished first half and a detailed synopsis for editorial
acquisition. That way I get a good sense of character and world but I
haven’t worked through the time necessary for a full manuscript.
And if/when they buy it, I’m in a good starting point to finish it
off because so much of the groundwork is already done.
Talk about your
support system online and IRL, especially your biggest cheerleaders.
My agent Eric Smith
is my biggest industry cheerleader. He’s probably the biggest
cheerleader in publishing, honestly. He cheers everyone on, which is
always good to have in those moments of self-doubt (there are many).
He’s also very editorial, which I appreciate in an agent. He lets
me bounce ideas off of him and provides early critique reads, even
for projects he’s not involved with. Oh, and he lets me know when
there are good sales on video games, which is very important!
My wife and
non-writer friends are all very supportive but the logistics of this
industry are so unique and weird that it’s hard for them to
empathize with the specific minutia of it all. I think for all
writers, it’s really important to get peers whom you can vent to in
private, and I am lucky that I have those. There are too many to
name, and I’m afraid I’d probably accidentally leave someone out,
but if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see me interacting with a
lot of them—cheering each other on but also talking about geeky
stuff like Star Trek and video games.
How does life
influence your writing and vice versa?
Well, I realized the
other day that many of the relationships and characters I’ve
written about are lifted unknowingly from personal experience. There
are moments when you draw on that intentionally, like a scene that
looks like the coffee shop you like or the character that tells a
joke that your spouse did. And then there’s the realization that a
shade of a character is totally someone you know. I think every
writer deals with that, so everyday life certainly influences my
writing. I think it’s impossible not to.
From a conscious
perspective, a friend told me a few weeks back that my writing was
“hopepunk,” which is a term I recently discovered. A lot of my
worldbuilding choices and character demographics stem from crafting a
world that I want to see. As creators, we have a choice to bring some
level of normalization into the real world via exposure in our
imaginary world—I think that’s very vital. Even if a story isn’t
overtly political, the messages imbued in it are inherently charged
with a political point of view.
I remember the first
creative writing class I took at UC Davis. I’d already done some
journalism at that point in my life, but I felt this strange sense of
freedom creating a fictional world. That creativity was unlike
anything I’d ever felt, and I ran with it. My teacher told me to
keep writing at the end of that class, and obviously I did.
That teacher, by the
way, is named Wendy Sheanin and she’s an executive at Simon &
Schuster. She’s the first person I sent an advance copy of my
debut.
Linda Niehoff is a portrait photographer by accident and chronic notebook scribbler by choice. Her flash fiction has appeared in numerous publications both online and in print. She lives in a small Kansas town where she is probably right now looking outside to study the light or watching an old episode of Scooby Doo.
Describe
your creative process—schedule, environment, inspirations,
etc.—compare and contrast writing with shooting.
I
write daily—almost without exception, though I’ve grown a little
lax in the last few years and will occasionally take a day off. This
means I write on holidays, weekends, and while on vacation. I’ve
written in hotel lobbies, waiting rooms, moving cars, trains, planes,
surrounded by crumpled up wrapping paper. And I don’t do that out
of some weird puritanical discipline. I do it because I love it. I do
some of my best thinking, analyzing, and daydreaming on the page with
a pen in hand. For me, writing is a blanket fort I build daily and
climb inside.
Photography
(even though it’s my money-maker) is like a bratty kid brother who
doesn’t eat vegetables, who doesn’t take a bath when he’s
supposed to. I never had the dreams for photography that I’ve had
for writing, and so I’ve always had an ease with it. Much of what I
shoot is done on my phone. I like the idea of keeping it a game. Of
fooling around. When I shoot clients, I use my big expensive camera,
but I’ve dreamed of doing an entire photo shoot with just my phone!
I think that’d be so fun to try! I’m also in love with instant
photography and have a (growing) collection of Polaroid and toy
cameras. I love the hazy, nostalgic look of instant film.
I’m
mostly a morning writer (I like to make sure it actually gets done!)
though sometimes I squeeze it into other areas like late afternoon or
late at night. And I almost always shoot in the golden hour when the
light is low and slanted and mellow. (I could shoot early mornings,
but that’s writing time!)
I’m interested in the same types of themes in both writing and photography. I love old timey. I love nostalgia. I love graveyards and the woods and tiny towns with silver water towers and old run-down motels. I love places that feel haunted with old, imperfect memories. Things that are slightly unkempt and almost forgotten. And I love that shadowed time that’s halfway between light and dark.
I
love writing and photography because they are the same, and they are
opposite. One is words and one is wordless. But writing is,
hopefully, painting a picture, and photography is , hopefully,
telling a story. It’s all about the story. That’s the key for me
and why I love both so much.
Tell
me how the final products—stories or photos—reach the consumer,
including marketing.
Mostly
online! When I shoot for clients, I use an online gallery or I share
images I take on social media. The stories I’ve had published have
mostly been in online venues—though a few were print only. As for
marketing, I’m a big believer in just sharing what you’re doing.
My entire photography business was built simply because when I first
joined Facebook, I uploaded pictures I took. People started asking me
if I’d do portraits for them. Or asked if they could buy things I’d
posted. I’ve always loved photography and would be taking pictures
regardless of whether or not I made money from it. But Facebook is
what got it started as a business.
Initially,
I was a lot shyer when it came to writing, and a lot of people didn’t
even know I wrote. It was easy to share pictures. You could just
upload something to Facebook and have instant feedback. I wanted a
similar experience for writing, so I decided to start a blog. I
figured it’d be an easy way to get used to having people read my
words. And it did help. I got more confident about sharing my work
and submitting it for publication.
I
really do think that if you put yourself out there and share what
you’re doing, you’ll find your people. And most people, when they
love what you’re doing, want to help you—by hiring you or buying
or sharing your work. Probably I could be way more successful if I
took out ads or ran specials or really worked at marketing or even
indie published some of my writing. But for where I am in life right
now, this works.
Talk
about your support system online and IRL, especially your biggest
cheerleaders.
First
and foremost, I’m very lucky to have been raised by an artist and a
physicist. My mom taught me to love words and layers and symbolism.
My dad taught me to love the mystery of it all and to dream. They
were my first cheerleaders.
And
now, I’m also lucky to have married someone that has never once
questioned why—even in motel rooms on roadtrips or at home on
holidays—the very first thing I do is write. He’s made sure that
regardless of any success or failure (99% of what I work on won’t
ever be published—so much of it is either practice or first drafts
or just for me) I have the time and space to get writing done. And
he’s helped me guard it. My kids (who are older now) are the same
way.
I
also have a great writing group that I met online almost 5 years ago
in a writing workshop. We all stayed writing together after the
workshop and have stayed in touch both online and in real life. I’ve
gained a couple of really close friends through that. It helps to
have others sharing in the same struggles and (hopefully joys and
successes) as you.
How
does life influence your creative work and vice versa?
Sometimes
this is a danger zone. Because for me, it’s too easy to let my
self-worth get tied up in something I’ve created. There’s always
a natural ebb and flow and there are always days where the work is
easy and days where the work is hard. I fail often in separating how
I feel about myself based on how the work is going, but I’m trying
to improve! Even so, everything I do is setting up for the creative
work—how I spend my time and how much I schedule all revolves
around leaving enough space to make stories and art. And often,
places I go and things I do are done with an eye toward asking
myself, “How would I write about/photograph this?” I’m always
looking for an opportunity to be inspired.
What
do you love most about your creativity?
With
creativity, I’m never bored. Everywhere I go, I’m watching the
light and shadows, I’m framing something in my mind. Now that
phones have cameras, it’s easy to snap quick pictures and edit them
on the fly. But even before that (or if I’m without my phone), I am
always looking at the picture of something. How it could be framed.
And I love that. I love being an audience of one and finding secret
moments that maybe everyone else has passed by.
But
stories are the same way. Sometimes I’ll see a stand of trees
against a purple fading sky and think, why does that make my heart
ache? And I know only a story will answer the question. So I start
casting about for character to go into the darkening trees. To turn
it into a story and answer it for me.
Writing
and shooting are a way to stay inside moment just a little bit
longer. A way to hold onto something that is, every second, slipping
away. It’s finding something to fall in love with. To swoon over.
That’s why I love creativity; it makes the ordinary important. It
makes everything you see a possibility. And when you have that inside
you (and I truly believe we all do in some form or another), it’s
like having the best stories and the best photographs with you all
the time.
Tal Garmiza is an Israeli artist who creates in two different fields—writing poetry & dance. She started dancing when she was 4 and wrote her first poem when she was 9, and the world of creation feels like an extension of her ever since.
In
the past few months she is exploring new platforms in which she can
make her art more accessible to people, and one of them is ‘speaking’
her poems and recording them.
Loose translation: Some Space on a Blank Page Tal Garmiza
Tell
me about your writing and video process: schedule, environment,
equipment, software, inspirations, etc.
Oh,
it is hard to set a schedule for writing; if only it was that easy.
Sometimes you have 10 different ideas per day and in others none.
But, when you start publishing either written or recorded poems—and
you do need to have high quality poems to publish in fixed times—you
learn to search for ideas and poems in ways that inspire you: a word,
sentences that people say, thoughts that go through your mind, dance
(all kinds of sports are great for clear mind and creativity) or even
music you love.
I
will later on talk about my ‘theory’ of where you can ‘find’
poems, but the inspiration for me when I ‘speak out’ my poems
comes from the words of the poem. They tell me how the poem should be
read out, where to have a pause, where to be determined. Before the
video was created, it was a written poem with words, telling a unique
story of time and place, and of me.
Technically,
the very first thing you need to do in order to record is to get a
good video camera with a microphone and stand. It’s time to step
away from you cell phones—the result just won’t be good enough. I
can only advise you to film videos with a bright background around
you, standing up, in a place where the viewer can understand your
words, and always do a few shots because you never know which one
might be the magical one!
For
editing, every simple movie editing software could work, because you
need to remember that your goal is to get the message through and not
be a video photographer.
I
make sure that I film and publish one poem in Hebrew and one in
English per week.
Walk
me through your publishing process from written to spoken product,
and marketing that you do as the artist.
I publish in a few different platforms: I publish written poetry in Hebrew & English via Facebook and Instagram. These are two platforms in which I publish almost everything I write. When I choose poems for a poetry book (I published a first poetry book in Hebrew two years ago) and for open calls, I choose the ones I feel have a story that shines out from within them. When I record videos, I choose again, because now I must choose poems that make sense when you speak them out and publish on my Facebook page, Instagram and YouTube.
The technological world we live in today allows us to publish our creation in various accessible ways, which is great. Having said that—because you can find so many things online today, you need to make sure that your creation stands out, that you know your own voice, and that you have a professional product to give your audience, within understandable limitations of course.
If
you work with social media—decide on fixed days on which you
publish new things; apply for open calls; read your stuff on poetry
nights—do everything you can to make sure that your creations don’t
stay in the drawer; and if you can afford to fund this—consult with
social media experts and do some promotion. In the marketing
department, all of us artists need some help
Talk
about your support system online and IRL, especially your biggest
cheerleaders.
My
parents are by far the biggest supporters I have! They come to every
poetry event and every dance performance, and they never told me that
my dreams are too crazy, or that creating is a waste of time. After
every event they ask me: So what will you be presenting next? It’s
a huge drive to create.
My
friends are also amazing cheerleaders and you might be surprised, but
the cheerleaders will appear as you keep pushing forward your art,
believe in it and stand behind it. Remember that poetry touches very
sensitive human feelings, so some people will read and watch
everything and won’t say a thing; and some will come to you quietly
one day and will say: ‘I follow what you do and that last poem—I
felt it.’
How
does life influence your poetry and vice versa? Your presentation is
intense, riveting; how did you come to the decision to produce spoke
word poetry?
I
feel that poems already exist in the world. As a poet, what you need
to do before you write them, is to find them; and they wait inside
and outside and between people, in the moments between the moments,
on the way home, late at night, in the questions that are waiting to
be asked and between the lines. They are waiting to be revealed and
to be written. I can say that, weirdly enough, I write many of my
poems on the bus on the way to somewhere.
I
use a clean language, but with very accessible down to earth words,
and I feel that with time I came to realize that fewer words
sometimes say much more. Since my first language is Hebrew, it
definitely takes more effort in English, but I think it’s the same
in every language.
I
wanted people to start making the connection between my words and the
person standing behind it—I was ready. I wanted to reach more
people that might be in need of some poems and the need for someone
else to speak their emotions and their experiences for them. I knew
that this would be a good reach out to them. The right poem at the
right times makes you feel that somewhere out there there’s someone
who understands you. It’s happening to others as well.
I
believe that poetry should be spread out to people, because a poem in
a very few words contains so much of the human experience, that it
might just remind us things about ourselves and about the world that
we almost forgot.
Mary is the author of The Praetorian Saga, a highly rated romantic
sci-fi series. She’s a sucker for romance in stories and believes
that any good story needs some love thrown in. Prior to her writing
career, she had lots of jobs she wasn’t cut out for, the most
infamous of which was airport security. When asked why she didn’t
enjoy that job, she’ll tell you, “Those guys have no sense of
humor.” Mary lives on the Alabama Gulf Coast with her husband and
sons, two fat lapdogs, and a cat she’s convinced is part
velociraptor.
Tell me about
your writing process: schedule, environment, inspirations,
maintaining character integrity through a series, etc.
I
work a full-time day job, so writing is a second career for me right
now. I also have two kids still at home, a few pets, and a husband.
So, I keep pretty busy. I’m somewhat terrible with schedules, but
over the last year or so I’ve managed to come up with something
that works for me. I generally wake up at 5am, regardless of what
time I have to be at the day job. I get myself dressed and ready for
work and write until it’s time to leave for work. I try to write
again in the evenings after the house quiets down for the night,
usually from about 9pm-11pm. The weekends are for family time.
I
have a home office that’s full of my books, tarot cards, Funko pop
figures, and a photo board of friends and family. I have a massive
desk that’s forever cluttered with anything and everything. I like
to listen to music while I write, but I keep the volume low so I
won’t get too distracted and start singing along.
I
believe inspiration is everywhere, if you look for it. Music is one
of my biggest inspirations. Sometimes I can imagine a scene or short
story out of a song lyric and sometimes that can become a whole book.
Sometimes I can plot out a whole book series from a random side
character in a TV series. It’s about allowing your mind to get a
little carried away, I think. Basically, the things I used to get in
trouble for in elementary school.
I’m
kind of a sucker for a story that rips your heart out, at least a
little. I prefer happy endings, but I need my characters to struggle
a little along the way. I try to write stories I’d want to read, so
that’s definitely reflected in the things I write. When it comes to
a series, you kind of go into it knowing that your characters are
going to change along the way. Or, they should, if you’re doing it
right. Not who they are at their core, but as they learn and grow
throughout their journey, they adapt and change somewhat. I keep a
file on every character I write and add to them along the way. I
always want to make sure that whatever I put my characters through,
their reactions and interactions make sense to who they are. I also
lean toward character-driven plots, so it’s really important to
keep who these people are firmly in my mind as I go.
Walk me through
your publishing process from “final” draft to final product,
including who does what when, and marketing that you do as the
author. Do you market the series as a whole with each new book? Will
there be more in the series, or do you start a new one?
So,
this is my least favorite part of being an indie author. The part
that comes after the writing part is over. I’ll reiterate what I’ve
said before, which is that when I started this whole thing, I had no
idea what went into writing and publishing a book. I’m still
learning and trying to improve as I go. Every day I’m finding
things I’m doing wrong or not doing enough. I jumped into this
thing head first and I’m slowly figuring out how to swim. That
said, I’ll share what I do.
I
try to start promoting the book a couple months before release date.
I share the blurb, cover, excerpts, etc on my social media sites. I
try to mix it up from Twitter to Facebook to Instagram. Not every
social media site has the same type of reader and it’s important to
understand that when you’re making posts.
I
market the series as a whole as well as individual books within the
series. Obviously, I want to bring in new readers, but I also want my
established readers to keep coming back. I’m constantly learning
which ads work on which platforms and which don’t. This seems to
change frequently and I’m always playing catch-up.
I
have a cover artist who designs all my covers based on a bit of input
from me. Once the book is formatted and I know a page count, I have
the cover commissioned and I do a cover reveal in my newsletter,
including a link to the pre-order. I always do pre-orders for a new
book. I try to have those go live around two months before the
release date.
As
for more Praetorian books, I never say never. For now, Bree and
Declan’s story is finished. I feel like I gave them their due and
wrapped their story up nicely. I’ve thought about coming back to
the Praetorian world sometime down the road, but I’d have to have
the right story to tell. Right now, I’m in the beginning stages of
a whole new story set in a dystopian America. I’m pretty excited
about it. I don’t know yet how many books it will be.
Talk about your
support system online and IRL, especially your biggest cheerleaders.
I
consider myself really lucky when it comes to support. Writing is
kind of a solo job and it can be isolating if you let it. You spend
hours on end alone with nothing but the stories in your head to keep
you company. It helps to have others in your life who understand that
and who have your back, so to speak. I have several friends who are
also writers. They’re always down for a plotting session or to help
me bounce ideas around, even if I’ve never met some of them in real
life. They’re always there to encourage me when they get a text at
midnight or 6am saying, “This is all shit and I’ll never finish
this book. Shoot me now.” They’re the ones who keep me pointed in
the right direction.
My
husband has probably been my biggest source of support. After more
than 20 years together, he gets me better than anyone and he knows
how important writing is to me. He’s always understanding when I
tell him I need to write at night instead of watching a movie or
catching up on our Netflix list. He never judges me when I take my
laptop on trips to run errands so I can peck away while he drives.
He’s a quiet guy, so he’s never going to be the one shouting
things from the rooftops, but he always shares anything he sees about
one of my books on social media. It’s his quiet way of showing his
support, but it never fails to make me smile.
How does life
influence your writing and vice versa?
The
thing about creating things is that if you care at all about it,
you’re going to put part of yourself into it. It’s hard for me to
stand back and point out specific elements without delving too deeply
into my own history and life. I write characters who have experienced
real tragedy and loss and come out the other side. That’s probably
because it’s something I’m familiar with. I don’t think I know
how to write a character who’s never had anything bad happen to
them. Could be a fun challenge, I suppose.
Since
I started writing, I think I’ve become more open and honest with
myself and the people around me. I’ve told this story before, but I
kept the fact that I was writing a book a complete secret until a
couple of months before the first book was set to release. When
someone asked me about the book directly, I was terrified. I stumbled
over my words, turned bright red and wanted to run from the room.
Now, nearly two years since the first book’s release, that’s gone
away and I’ve gotten to a place where I’m comfortable talking
about my writing. With that comfort, I think I’ve become at peace
in my own skin when I didn’t realize I wasn’t before. It’s
going to sound cheesy, but I feel like I’ve found what I was
supposed to be doing all along. I’m proud of myself and happy with
what I’ve done so far, though I know I have a long way to go.
What do you love
most about your creativity? What prompted you to write a series?
I
think the thing I love most about having a creative mind is that it’s
never boring. I don’t remember ever being bored as a child. Part of
that was because I loved books from a young age and spent most of my
time reading them. Because of that love for stories, I wanted to
create stories of my own. I’ve always been a daydreamer. As a kid,
it got me into trouble because I’d get lost in my head instead of
paying attention to whatever it was I was supposed to be doing. As an
adult, that still happens sometimes, but I’ve gotten better at
muti-tasking. Or maybe I’ve gotten better at pretending I know
what’s going on while I’m lost in my own head. I’m not sure.
When
I first began writing The Praetorian Saga, I had no idea if I had
enough story for a book, let alone a series. I had a vague idea of a
scene with a girl running down a dark street. That’s it. Somehow I
got four books out of it. That makes it sound much easier than it
actually was, I know. I think somewhere along the way, I realized
that I had more story than one book would allow. Originally, I’d
planned for a three-book series. I thought I could tell the story I
needed to tell within that structure, but after I’d finished the
first draft of the second book, I realized that there was a lot
missing. There was a lot of character development, but not as much
propelling the story along (character-driven writer, remember?) So, I
cut out the back half of that book, made a lot of revisions, and
wrote a whole new ending that drew back into the larger series plot.
What that meant was that I’d basically added another book to the
series. So, it came out to four. That suited me fine, because as a
reader I prefer longer series to standalone books. It didn’t make
things any easier when I was fighting my way through the fourth book,
cursing my past self who thought it was a good idea to add another
book to the series.
Originally from Southern California, P.A.
O’Neil, spent her teen years in a small town in Washington State.
Her Mexican and Irish heritage has provided a lifetime of
inspiration, as well as compassion for others, which comes through in
her stories. She understands what it means to be in the minority as
well as the majority and has always given voice to the underdog. She
lives in Olympia, Washington, with her husband and two grown children
nearby. Her life is full of love from family and friends from around
the world, and this love is reflected in her writing.
Tell
me about your writing process: schedule, environment, inspirations,
decision to focus on short stories, etc.
I’m a genuine sloth in the morning, so my writing is best done between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm. I do have a part-time job outside the home with a varied schedule, so I don’t often have the availability to write every day. I like to think of my writing as an actual profession, which means you must take days off in order to stay fresh. I don’t write on the weekends in deference to my husband, who prefers my attention be away from the computer.
I’ve always been a storyteller, writing off and on since I was a child. In college, I wrote and produced a radio play. I thoroughly enjoyed that, which makes me think I might’ve been born about forty years too late. The greatest inspiration comes from vivid dreams; I’ll keep notes and do my best to fit the premise into a workable plot. I did this in August of 2016 when I found myself unemployed for the second time in two years. I thought I could either sit on the couch and watch old movies, or I could sit at the computer and write out a story, which turned out to be a novel called, “Finding Jane.”
The story did not turn out half-bad and was praised by those who read
it, but of course, it was extremely raw, being compared to “a
beautiful runway model with nothing to wear.” Thanks to Facebook, I
connected with people who were in groups I belonged to; they were
published authors, and I asked where I should go from there. They put
me onto Facebook pages that were writing oriented, and with the help
of a friend who has since also become my editor, fourteen months
after I typed END on my novel, my first short story was published in
an anthology. It was called, “Sara Hemming, Psychic Redecorator.”
Since then, my short stories have been accepted for publication in
over thirty publications, both online and in paperback.
I enjoyed writing my novel but have since found a preference in writing short stories, flash fiction, and even drabbles. The challenge of making every word count and having a purpose is fulfilling to both the writer and the reader. I want to take readers, drop them into a scene that’s already in motion, make them care about the characters, given them a plausible conclusion, yet leave them turning the page at the end wanting to know more. That’s what I believe makes for a good short story.
Walk
me through your publishing process from submission to marketing.
The process for submission was something I had to learn for myself. I
watched other Facebook group members comment about how they did it,
what worked, and what didn’t, and put together a submission letter
that I thought would meet the criteria for a standard submission.
Some worked, and some didn’t, but what did work gave me the idea to
create a template that I use for each submission. It is always being
refined but helps to keep the project running smoothly. I even wrote
an essay that was printed on the Writers Unite! Worldwide
webpage, “The Submission
Process for a Short Story or What I Wish Someone Had Taught Me.” I
have shared it often on my own Facebook professional page so others
can find relief when wondering how to go about making a submission.
To have your work bounced by the submission editor because of a
technicality in your letter, before the story has ever been read, is
an avoidable shame.
I have used Submittable,
Duotrope, and Submission Finder, along with word- of-mouth to find
submission calls. As a way of keeping track of submissions for
individual stories, I made another template which lists the basic
information [story name, word count, date written, editor] as well as
information about the publication [name, publisher, editor, closing
date, payment, reprints, etc.]. This way when I submit it, I have the
date of contact (to and from) and even publication date if accepted.
It suits me as far as efficiency because it tells the history of each
story towards publication.
So far, my advertising has all been through Facebook pages. I do have an Amazon author page that I refer to, but I have yet to pay for an advertisement. That may change if I get more involved in the publication process of some of these anthologies or my own collection.
Talk
about your support system online and IRL, especially your biggest
cheerleaders.
I have absolutely the best of friends in the virtual world thanks to
the Facebook groups I have joined in the past three years. They’re
from all over the world and are always willing to help, encourage,
and even give solace when needed. My sister though has been my
strongest supporter since day one. Yes, she laughed when I told her I
had written a novel and wanted to write professionally—I would’ve
laughed too, but she has become my sounding board and official record
keeper as she has all of my original manuscripts in hard copy. My
kids have been supportive in a, “yeah, yeah, whatever you say,
Mom,” kind of way. My son though gave me a book for Christmas about
how make money as a self-publisher, so I guess he’s coming around.
My husband acts as if he has no interest, but I have learned from his
co-workers, he does speak proudly of my accomplishments.
I do have to thank Facebook, because it has allowed for me to connect with friends and relatives who are always there to cheer when the next story get published. I have the best coworkers, who are proud of my accomplishments, and some of them are writers themselves, so we always give encouragement.
How
does life influence your writing and vice versa?
In as much as life influences my dreams, actions and events oftentimes spark my imagination enough to write a story about it. My story, “The Obelisk,” is one of these, whereas “Pink and Gray Ash” came from a true story as told by a friend of a friend of the man who died.
What
do you love most about your creativity?
I joke about needing to write to “silence the voices in my head,” but really, it’s being able to arrange my thoughts in way that can entertain, or possibly even enlighten, the reader enough. I want them to be glad they took the time to read my story.
Dete
Meserve is an accomplished creator and producer of independent movies
and award-winning television shows as well as a best-selling and
award-winning novelist. As a key member of the executive team at Wind
Dancer Films, Meserve has been one of the industry’s major players
in independent film and television production. She currently oversees
worldwide business and creative properties for the film development,
finance, and production company that has generated over $4 billion in
revenue from its properties, which include hit television series
Roseanne
and Home
Improvement
and feature films including What
Women Want
(Mel Gibson), Where
The Heart Is
(Natalie Portman), Bernie
(Jack Black), What
Men Want
(Taraji P. Henson) and Good
Sam
(Netflix).
Meserve
is also leading the company’s growing kids and family brands,
including the PBS KIDS series Ready
Jet Go!,
created by Craig Bartlett (Hey
Arnold!,
Dinosaur
Train)
with Meserve as Executive Producer, the stop motion series
“Storywoods”
with Lil Buddy Studios and Head Writer Carin Greenberg, and Not
A Box,
the animated TV series based on the award-winning book by Antoinette
Portis.
Meserve
has produced numerous films and TV series and her list of credits
span award-winning television series such as Home
Improvement
and Saint
George
with George Lopez (Executive Producer) as well as hit movies What
Men Want,
the award-winning comedy Bernie
(Executive Producer), The
Keeping Room
(Executive Producer), What
Women Want
(Executive Producer) and Good
Sam
(Producer).
Meserve
is also the author of the best-selling and multi-award-winning novel,
Good
Sam,
as well as its sequel Perfectly
Good Crime,
which won the Living Now Book Awards for “books that change the
world,” and the international bestseller The
Space Between
(July 2018). Meserve adapted her first novel, Good
Sam,
into a screenplay and produced it as a Netflix Original Film starring
Tiya Sircar (The
Good Place).
The film was released worldwide in May 2019. Her book, Random
Acts of Kindness,
co-written with award-winning journalist Rachel Greco, was published
in March 2019. Meserve is at work on a fifth book entitled The
Good Stranger
for Amazon Publishing/Lake Union (Spring 2020).
She
lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.
Tell
me about your writing process: schedule, environment, inspirations,
etc.; and how you balance your careers of producer and author.
I
write whenever I can! My job as a producer and CEO of a studio takes
up much of my daylight hours, so I have to find writing time at night
after my family’s asleep or on weekends when my family is busy with
other things. When I’m on deadline to deliver a manuscript, I have
to set aside specific time to write—often in the daylight hours—but
other things in life invariably interfere and suddenly my three-hour
block of writing time gets reduced to, say, ninety minutes. It can be
frustrating, but I keep juggling and shifting to make it happen. I
know my priorities and family always comes first.
Hod
did you “found” your Random Acts of
Kindness stories, and what is it like to
co-author?
After
posting literally thousands of stories about the good things people
do for others, I wanted to write a book to capture some of the best
stories and looking through a very specific lens: how were the givers
changed by helping others? Since these were true stories, I
wanted to collaborate with a journalist who had the right sensitivity
and sensibility for these “softer” stories. I read an article
about a woman who was given a new van by a stranger and loved the
poignant way journalist Rachel Greco approached the story, so I
called her and told her I wanted to write a book of these stories. I
was overjoyed when she said yes. Initially we didn’t meet in person
because I’m based in Hollywood and she’s in East Lansing,
Michigan. Instead, we’d regularly get together for calls to talk
through what stories we’d seen that had resonated with us and which
ones might be good candidates for the book. We had tremendous
resources to draw from: thousands of stories on my Facebook page at
www.Facebook.com/GoodSamBook
and countless others that readers were sending in. We wanted to make
sure the book reflected all kinds of givers: rich, poor, age
nine-year-old to ninety-nine, city folk and people who lived in rural
communities, bikers and fraternity boys. Our idea was not to reprint
what others had already written. Instead, Rachel spoke with the
people in the stories and we developed a chapter from there. I have
to say those hours working with Rachel were some of the brightest for
me because I knew we were both doing something we were meant to do.
Walk
me through your publishing process from “final” draft to final
product, including who does what when, and marketing that you do as
the author. As you wrote Good Sam, did you
imagine the story as a film? Are you planning to take your other
novels to the big screen?
When
I wrote Good Sam I never imagined it would become a film. I
only set out to tell a story where we’re searching for someone
doing extraordinary good and exploring how looking for that kind of
person actually changes all of us. I wanted to explore the reasons
why people do good things. From the countless stories told about
murders and violence, we already know why people commit crimes but
how often do we stop to think about why we help others and why some
put their lives on the line so that others can live? Maybe thinking
about that will allow us to become our better selves. There are
moments when I still can’t believe it’s a Netflix Original Film,
even though I wrote the screenplay and was a producer on the film. It
still feels joyously unreal.
When
I begin writing, I like to have lots of time for what I call “play.”
This is when I’m writing ideas into a notebook, doing research,
playing around with an idea, discovering the characters. It’s
truly the most carefree and easy part of writing. Then there becomes
a point where the story starts to form: I hear snippets of character
dialogue, I can see scenes of what’s happening, and I’m beginning
to have an inkling of what themes I want to explore. That’s when I
start a draft which I title: Things I’m Seeing. If ideas start
flowing, then I know I’m ready to write the manuscript. Otherwise,
I stop and go back to “playing” and researching until I’m ready
to begin.
Once
the manuscript is finished, I like to send to beta readers before
sending to the publisher but the deadlines on the last novel were so
tight that no one but me had read it before I sent it in. That was a
nail biter of a process for me. After that, the editor will send me
notes and I’ll make revisions addressing notes until we all get a
draft we’re all happy with. Then off to copy editing and proof
reading all while writing ideas for marketing, working on the cover
with designers, thinking about book club questions, writing
acknowledgments, etc. It’s a huge wonderful process to bring a book
to life and I’m always grateful for the privilege of doing it and
for the talented and committed people around me who make it possible.
I’m adapting some of my other novels to the screen. I’m
particularly intrigued by SVOD platforms like Netflix because they
allow you as a creator to reach massive audiences around the world,
which is very rewarding. But, for me, all ideas begin with story.
It’s only after you know the story that you can ask: Where is the
best place—what is the best way—to tell that story? A novel? A TV
series? A movie? I’m open to wherever that leads me.
Talk
about your support system online and IRL, especially your biggest
cheerleaders.
My
readers are the best! Truly. Every day I wake up to countless stories
about good people that they’ve shared on my social media platforms
or sent to me via messenger or email. They are wonderful supporters
of my writing, sharing their recommendations through reviews and
talking about the books online. When I have moments where a current
novel I’m writing is difficult, I take a peek at what people are
saying—their reviews, comments on posts, the emails and letters
they send me—and I’m reminded how fortunate I am to have such
loving, thoughtful, kind readers in my life. I feel like I know many
of them even though we’ve never met in person. I never take that
for granted and try to respond to every reader. That can be difficult
to juggle when I’m already working long days, but it’s important
to me to connect with readers.
In
real life, my husband and family are the best support system. I often
begin work early in the morning and my husband brings me a chai latte
and a breakfast so I can keep working. My daughter Lauren patiently
listens to me, read scenes aloud, and gives me feedback. And my older
sons are incredibly understanding when I run off after dinner to get
back to writing. And I’m fortunate to write in the beautiful
Southern California light, which is partly why much of my writing is
optimistic and hopeful.
How
does life influence your writing and vice versa, especially the
response to Random Acts of Kindness and the Good
Sam film? How has your background in film prepared you for
a writing career?
Sometimes
my workdays can get intense—disappointments, failures, surprises,
gut-wrenching events that steal my breath away. I try to channel that
into my writing. Even if what I’m writing about has nothing to do
with what’s happening in real life, I find a way to convey the
complex emotions that come with working with others all day long.
People often ask me how I can write such optimistic stories when I
work in the rough and tumble world of Hollywood. But the truth is,
that’s why I started writing stories where Kate Bradley seeks out
people doing good, without ulterior motive. I honestly questioned if
such people existed, so I sent Kate Bradley on that exploration. And
along the way, I discovered that good people are everywhere – you
just have to look past those who are getting all the attention for
bad stuff and you’ll see them everywhere. All the time.
What
do you love most about your creativity?
I
love that creativity allows me to follow my passions and curiosity.
I’m interested in so many things, so writing allows me to bring all
those things together. I’m always researching and learning new
things in order to accomplish a novel. I’ve learned a lot about
journalism, firefighting, Russian linguistics, opera, online
videogames, and security systems from writing the Kate Bradley
mysteries. And when I wrote The Space Between, I immersed
myself in astronomy, a little physics, and secret codes. I also learn
a lot about people—the way we think, how we make decisions, the way
we interact with others, how we acquire belief systems.
What
I didn’t expect—and which is always a wonderful surprise for
me—is that my explorations are embraced by so many and become
meaningful to others too. That connection with readers—when they
say they’ve experienced the same feelings as my characters have—is
priceless. Writing is a way to share the human experience and makes
me realize that I’m not alone in the things I love, wonder about,
question or struggle with. That is a gift of a lifetime.
G.
Allen Wilbanks is a retired police officer living in Northern
California. For twenty-five years he wrote collision and crime
reports during the day to pay the bills, and short fiction during his
off-time to stay sane. In 2016, he retired from real life to devote
his full attention to fantasy. He has published two short story
collections, and the novel, When Darkness Comes. His short stories
have appeared in Daily
Science Fiction, Deep
Magic, The
Talisman and dozens of
other magazines and anthologies all
over the world.
Tell
me about your writing process: schedule, environment, inspirations,
black magick spells, etc.
I live on five acres of property in a rural neighborhood, so I spend
most of my day isolated from other people. I’m okay with that,
though, because it gives me time to write with minimum distractions.
I’m also a bit of a hermit if I’m being honest. I like the
isolation. Most of my days look pretty similar. I wake up in the
morning about 7 AM to say goodbye to my wife as she heads out the
door to go to work. I start my morning with a four or five mile walk
through the pastures and farmlands surrounding my home while I listen
to audiobooks (since I rarely have to time to sit and read a book
anymore). Back home, I work in my yard tending the garden and fruit
trees for a couple hours (still listening to a book), and then about
11 o’clock I settle into my den to write. My wife gets home about 6
PM each day and usually finds me at my desk still working on whatever
WIP I’ve chosen for that day.
Walk
me through your publishing process, from “final” draft to final
product, and marketing strategies.
I
have published three books: two collections of short stories and one
novel. I published each of them through CreateSpace (which has since
been bought out by KDP Select). The software was very user-friendly
and made the process as simple as possible for a newbie like myself.
There is software for making your own cover and creating your own
layout for the cover of the book, but I would actually recommend
reaching out to a professional cover artist or designer. It makes a
world of difference and your book will look much more appealing to a
potential reading audience.
Marketing
is the hard part. I am a bit of an introvert and am much more
comfortable writing stories than trying to convince others to buy
them. This is still an area I am working on improving. If you are
publishing traditionally, there are usually people working for the
publishers who are
responsible for marketing, but if you are an indie writer like me,
you need to get the word out on your own. Social media is the key to
attracting readers. It is more than just telling people you have a
book for sale; you need to get people interested in you personally
first—then they might get curious enough to purchase what you have
written. Building a following is a slow, gradual process. I wish I
could give you some secret or tip to sell a million books, but I
haven’t figured it out myself just yet.
Talk
about your support system online and IRL, especially your biggest
cheerleaders.
My
biggest supporter in my writing is my best friend and fellow writer,
Wes Blalock. Our paths have paralleled each other’s in many ways.
We both had careers in law enforcement before focusing on writing
full time. Although we tend to write in different genres, we beta
read much of each other’s manuscripts, offer editing advice, and
encourage one another with our projects. We have even attended
writing events together.
Online,
I have joined several writing groups on Facebook and have connected
with writers all over the world on Twitter. I find I get to know
people a little better and interact more with them on Facebook, but
the groups you join are important. Many of them are looking for
people to sell books and writing services to rather than provide
support and help. Choose carefully. Look for the groups that support
one another, share publishing opportunities, and offer advice when
you have serious questions about the process of writing or
publishing.
How
does life, and career in law enforcement, influence your writing and
vice versa?
While
I was working in law enforcement, much of my writing was very dark.
It focused on human cruelty and personal suffering. My ideas
frequently came from real life incidents I had investigated, then I
would twist the tale to give it a more suspenseful feel or add
supernatural elements. Writing was cathartic for me then, it helped
me process all the ugliness and violence I dealt with in my job. Now
that I’m retired, I still love writing horror stories, but I have
found myself moving more into the realms of dark fantasy and
surrealism. I guess as my life has become less chaotic, so has my
storytelling.
What
do you love most about your creativity?
When
I was working as a police officer, writing was one of the ways that I
dealt with stress. Writing (and reading) short stories helped me deal
with some of the harder emotional aspects of my job in a healthier
way than drinking or trying to ignore them. Creating a story allowed
me to decompress and to process my feelings.
Although
I am no longer dealing with the same level of stress in my life,
writing is still a great outlet. I take pieces of dreams, ideas, and
feelings and try to create something complete and wonderful out of
them. I keep notebooks all around the house because I never know when
a thought or somebody’s comment might trigger a new story idea. I
absolutely love seeing a published final version of a story that
started out as just a bunch of fragments of ideas and emotions. It is
even more rewarding when I hear from someone who enjoyed reading
something I created, but that is not the main reason I write. I think
even if I never published another piece, I would continue to write
just for the peace and enjoyment it brings me.
Brittany
started exploring
digital
illustration at
age
13, experimenting
with Photoshop
at home for a few hours a day. She
completed
a multimedia program in high school (10th grade) for 3D Modeling and
Animation, attended Johnson County Community College for Animation in
Overland Park, Kansas,
earning
her
degree in 2013. She
moved to Colorado in 2014 to finish her
degree at The Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Game Art in
Lakewood, Colorado,
graduating in 2018. She
has
been doing freelance digital illustration, 3D art, and graphic design
since 2005.
Acacia Twitch banner
Architectural sketch
Tell me about your artistic process:
schedule, environment, materials / tools / programs, inspirations,
styles, etc.
A
lot of my process depends on the project; typically, I like to
brainstorm with thumbnail sketches of illustrations and designs first
to give me an idea of direction. I also like to at that time come up
with a couple different color palettes and collect reference images.
The programs that I utilize
most often are Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya (for 3D work). My
style ranges from
photorealism
to
portraiture to more folksy-stylized work for illustrations.
Bear Necessities
Boo Cappy
Walk me through your commission, sales, and
marketing strategies.
For commissions, a lot of the time I do not
have a per hour structure. I tend to commission per the job while
factoring in cost of time, materials (if traditional media), and of
course the complexity of the project commissioned. A lot of my
business is word of mouth and through social media.
Cardinal watercolor
Dark Knight
Talk about your support system online and
IRL, especially your biggest cheerleaders.
My biggest cheerleaders have been my friends.
Initially my family didn’t think that going into art as a career
would be a good field to jump into, but over time digital art has
only blown up! Especially in the entertainment and animation fields
of work, technical artists are always needed. My mother was always a
champion of the arts, and strongly encouraged me to do what I wanted
and chase my dreams of working in game development despite what
anyone else said.
Devon Disney style
Lavender Twilight
How does life influence your art and vice
versa?
Life has strongly influenced my art, mostly
through flora and fauna. I have always been an avid fan of realism,
but fantasy has been my biggest influence. There are so many strange
plants, animals and environments on the Earth to reference from that
all of it has been a big inspiration for me to create “new” types
of them that would exist in fantasy.
Prairie fire
Saleen S73D model
What do you love most about your creativity?
What I love most about my creativity is the way
it lets me put a bit of “me” out there in the world. I don’t
aim to be a super famous artist but its more than worth it to have
just one single person tell me that my work inspired them in any way.
Most artists, myself included, tend to be more solitary, so it’s a
good format to “speak” to your audience without actually
speaking. It gives me a way to communicate visually and express
myself in a language that everyone can understand, with colors,
shapes, and lines.
Caitlin
Cording wants to live in a world where love letters are always
handwritten, ice cream vans come round in the winter, and watching
funny cat videos online every day is a legal requirement.
From
the foot-swelling world of retail, to the back-aching world of call
centres, Caitlin has worked a variety of jobs. She began her writing
carer by posting her work on Wattpad under a pseudonym. Now having
had a number of short stories published within anthologies and
literary magazines, as well as securing a first place within an
international competition, she is working on her debut novel for
young adults.
Describe
your writing process: schedule, environment, inspirations, etc.
I
write the first two drafts of anything in my voice, then I channel
the character whose POV it is, and rewrite it using their voice (far
more interesting.) My debut novel is written from the POV of a
15-year-old pickpocket/graffiti artist from south London and, boy am
I having fun with it!
In
terms of environment, I began writing at a time when my commute to
work and back took a total of four hours each day. I’d sit in bus
stops in December with trembling hands and numb fingers, jabbing out
flash fictions on my Smartphone. Nowadays, I prefer to write indoors
(usually while sitting on my sofa sipping coffee.)
As
far as inspiration goes, I’m afraid my answer is cliché: books,
music and art. There’s just something about appreciating another
artist’s work that makes my creative juices spit and sizzle!
At
the moment I’m focusing on my debut novel, so I’ve been a tad
neglectful on the marketing front lately, but usually I book blog on
Instagram and shout about my new publications on my Facebook page. I
also have an email list and make a point of mentioning my
publications to everyone I meet, and by mention I mean, I snatch
their phone from them, bring up the links and force them to read out
loud! 🤣
In
terms of submissions, I always make a point of reading the
magazine/anthology to determine whether my style/stories are a good
fit for the publication. I also double-check the guidelines, find out
the name of the editor-in-chief to address the submission to, oh, and
make sure I personalize every cover letter.
Talk
about your support system online and IRL, especially your biggest
cheerleaders.
Oh
wow, there are so many!
I
love my real life writers group, especially our monthly open mic
nights! I’m also a big fan of the Fiction Writing, Writers Helping
Writers, and Inner Circle Writers Facebook
Groups—they’re
the platforms through which I’ve met some of my greatest beta
readers.
I’ve
been lucky enough to converse with many best-selling authors online
too, but I have to say, author of On a Scale of One to Ten,Ceylan Scott gave me a massive boost of confidence when she gave
me a fantastic review of my short story, “The Art of Deception.”
But
most of all, I’d say my biggest cheerleaders are my readers,
particularly the ones who regularly reviewed my earliest work on
Wattpad. They are the people who gave me belief in myself to persue
this career.
How
does life influence your writing and vice versa?
I
suffered a lot of abuse as a child/teenager; I was in foster care and
have spent time in psychiatric wards. I now volunteer at a homeless
shelter and work with young people in foster care. All that stuff has
shaped who I am as a writer. I like to get down and dirty, expose
taboos, and be bold when talking about the nitty, gritty subjects.
Brian Paone was born and raised in the
Salem, Massachusetts area. Brian has, thus far, published five
novels: Dreams Are Unfinished
Thoughts—a memoir about
being friends with a drug-addicted rock star; Welcome
to Parkview—a macabre
cerebral-horror novel; Yours
Truly, 2095—a time-travel
romance novel (which was suggested for a Hugo Award, though it did
not make the finalists); and Moonlight
City Drive Part 1 & 2—a
supernatural crime-noir detective trilogy (with Part 3 coming in
2021).
Brian currently
lives in Monterey, CA with his wife—a US Naval Officer—and their
four children. He is a retired police officer and worked in law
enforcement for sixteen years from 2002 – 2018.
Tell me about your writing process: schedule, environment,
inspirations, etc.
I’ve published 4 novels, and my typical day during the writing of each book was totally different from each other.
When I was writing my first book, Dreams Are Unfinished Thoughts,
I was in the middle of moving from MA to GA, changing police
departments, and recording an album with my band, Transpose. So, a
typical day would be: getting everything done first for the move,
switching jobs, the recording studio, and whatever time was left at
night: working on the book. We also didn’t have any kids yet.
With my second novel, Welcome to Parkview,
my wife had been deployed to Djibouti and I was working full time at
the police department in GA, and we had 2 kids now. So, I was alone
without my wife, with 2 toddlers, and working full time. My day would
be: getting the kids to day-care, go work fighting crime for 8 hours,
picking the kids up and doing whatever household chores I had to do
(laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping etc.), feeding the kids dinner and
putting them to bed around 6:30, then I would work out for an hour, and
then I would work on Welcome to Parkview after I showered until whenever I passed out at my laptop.
With my third novel, Yours Truly. 2095,
the Navy had sent us to Japan for the next 4 years. I had to take a
leave of absence at the police department, and we moved the family
there. I did not get a job right away, as my wife wanted me to be the
stay at home parent during our time in Japan (I did eventually become a
Criminal Justice professor for the college on base, but that’s
irrelevant to the book.) We moved in November 2011 and by January 2012 I
was itching to write. For the first time, I had the TIME to write, and
not having to worry about a new job, moving, or wiping poopy diapers.
So, in February 2012, I started my outline, and writing the book was my
full-time job for a while. We sent our 2 kids to Japanese Kindergarten
(called a Yochien in Japan) and they were gone Monday through
Friday from 9:00 to 4:00. I would bring them to the bus stop, wave
goodbye, go back up into our apartment, and write until the bus brought
them back. It was the first time I could write without distractions, and
the first time I was writing not being dead-tired at night after
putting in a full day.
Moonlight City Drive (2017, my 4th novel) was the first book where I had a legit writing office. When we moved from Japan to North Carolina, one of the stipulations my wife had on finding a new house was that it would have a writing office for me. One with doors. And a writing desk. And I could decorate it any way I wanted. So that novel was written, for the first time, in a closed-off environment from the distractions of the outside world (and that includes the kids, TV, and normal household noise.) Moonlight City Drive 2 (2019) and my WIP (release schedule Jan 2020) were/are being written here in Monterey, CA where we live now. I have a writing office, but it does not have doors that can keep the outside word, well, outside. So, it’s been slightly more daunting to write while we’ve been here. We are moving to Virginia in April, and it appears I should have a proper writing office again there (a room with doors, halleluiah). So what I have learned is that I can certainly write in a space that is not segregated from the rest of the house, but I am far more productive when I have a written office where there is a piece of glass or a slab of wood separating me from the real world.
Walk me through your publishing process from “final” draft to
final product, including who does what when, and marketing that you
do as the author.
Every author must find what works for them, so this is less a “how
to” answer and more of a “what I do” answer. I start with a
super loose outline. My outline may only plot points A, D, G etc
because I like to pants points B, C, E, F, H etc. After some
semblance of an outline is finished, I write only 2 drafts. First
draft is off the cuff, using the outline as a road map. Second draft
is my polishing and rewrite any scenes that aren’t working. Then it
goes to my editor, Denise Barker. What I receive back is the 3rd
and final draft. Then Kari Holloway starts formatting it for
publishing, while Amy Hunter and/or Kyle Lechner work on the book
cover and any chapter heading illustrations that will be included.
After it’s published, I will run some pretty hefty ads on Facebook
(targeting very specific audiences) and Amazon.
Talk
about your support system online and IRL, especially your biggest
cheerleaders.
The
Facebook group that I founded in 2016, Fiction Writing, even though
is 90k+ members now, we still have a “small community” feel, and
I’d like to think we are ALL in each other’s corners. However, my
wife is my #1 fan but my biggest critic.
How
does life influence your writing and vice versa, including founding
and maintaining a publishing company and a Facebook writers group?
I
would say music influences my writing more than life. Writing is my
escape, and even though I write about very human things, I tend to
completely remove myself from real life when I write. My publishing
company, Scout Media, has been around since 2013, and we were told by
many people that we were going to fail and wouldn’t survive. Funny
because almost everyone who said that have closed their doors and no
longer exist as presses. I run the company the same way I treat my
family: respectful, nurturing, and wanting the best for all parties
involved.
What
do you love most about your creativity?I love being able to take a few lines of lyric from a favorite song and watch an entire rt or chapter of a novel grow from it.
I love being able to take a few lines of lyric from a favorite song and watch an entire short story or chapter of a novel grow from it.
Author
Extra: I know you’re reticent to discuss it, but we’d all like to
hear about your DeLorean! You’re the only person I know who owns
one, and I followed her progress on the way to her new home. Plus, as
a Gen X, I love that movie and MJF.
Ha!
Yep, it’s been a lifelong dream of mine, and after about 15 years
of serious and hardcore searching, I found one for sale in Michigan,
within my price range. The day will live in infamy. It was January
31, 2019. My wife had come home from work and was brushing her teeth,
getting ready for bed. I explained I had found a DeLorean for sale in
MI, and her reply was that if I had enough money in my book royalty
account to pay for it, then make the call in the morning. And I did.
So, for all of you out there who have your sights set on a lifelong
dream, just know that little ol’ me was able to pay CASH for a 1981
DeLorean with only 17,500 miles on it, 100% from book royalty money
from the previous 2 years of sales.
